IPL 10, Match 38, MI v RCB: Royal Challengers Bangalore Predicted XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore have had a terrible outing in IPL so far. Having lost 7 out of 10 matches, they are languishing at the second last position on the points table. Only Delhi Daredevils are behind them but they have 2 games in hand and are likely to overtake RCB at some point in time. The road to the playoffs is almost closed for Virat Kohli’s side and are left to rue their dismal performances in the league.

Nothing has worked for RCB this season, their batsmen have failed miserably and the bowlers too haven’t stood up. Although they still have a mathematical chance to make it to the playoffs if they win all their remaining matches and the results of other matches go in a certain way. It’s easier said than done because it’s highly unlikely that they would win the remaining matches going by their current form.

Their next game is against Mumbai Indians and that too in their own backyard where they win more often than not. It’s going to be an uphill task for RCB to survive against the might of Mumbai. From here on, RCB could play the role of party spoilers for others but their poor show suggests even that is going to be difficult.

Here’s CricTracker’s predicted XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore as they take on Mumbai Indians on Monday at Wankhede:

Openers (Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli)

Virat Kohli was the only man who fought against Rising Pune Supergiant in their previous encounter. He alone scored 55 runs where other 10 batsmen could add only 41 runs. The skipper stayed not out until the 18th over and was holding the fort alone but wickets kept falling at the other end and he was left with too many to get. For the remaining matches, his form will be crucial as ICC Champions Trophy follows immediately after IPL.

Travis Head was tried in the last game but he failed to make an impact as he was dismissed for just 2 runs that opened the floodgates for RCB. As the team has minimal chances left in the league, they would want to go in with their best squad and hence Chris Gayle can make a return to the line-up. Gayle hasn’t been in the best of forms but his inclusion will make the crowd happy for the least.

Middle-Order (AB de Villiers, Kedar Jadhav, Sachin Baby and Stuart Binny)

There were a huge amount of expectations from the de Villiers but he has failed to deliver. His failure is one of the reasons why RCB are tottering at this stage. He has managed just 153 runs from 6 games and has hit only one half-century. He will be extremely crucial for the team’s chances against MI.

Kedar Jadhav has shown signs of form in the season but the inability of others to support has left him high and dry. In the last game, he lost his wicket owing to a confusion in running between the wickets with Kohli. Overall, he has 213 runs to his name in 9 matches which is the second highest for RCB behind Kohli.

Sachin Baby and Stuart Binny are expected to hold onto their spots in the XI even though they had scored in single digits in the last game. Binny had picked up the important wicket of Steven Smith while the batsman was looking to up the ante.

Bowlers (Aniket Choudhary, Adam Milne, Samuel Badree, Sreenath Aravind and Yuzvendra Chahal)

The bowling of RCB has always been a worry and the intermittent injuries to Tymal Mills haven’t helped their cause at all. He has been out of the action for the past couple of games and that made way to Adam Milne. The Kiwi pacer bowled with steam but doesn’t have decent numbers to show.

The other fast bowler Sreenath Aravind has done well in patches but the overall record in the tournament is not so good. Pawan Negi didn’t have a great outing in whatever opportunities he got and considering the pitch at Wankhede, RCB might not go for three spinners in the XI and hence the pacer Aniket Choudhary might get a game.

The spinners Samuel Badree and Yuzvendra Chahal are the only two bright spots in a rather miserable side. But the inability of the batsmen to come good have left them stranded. Chahal and Badree have picked up 10 and 9 wickets respectively and are the top 2 wicket-takers for the side.